Vegas vs St. Louis Prediction 20 January 2025

🔊 What happened to the "Knights"? Vegas still remains one of the leaders of the Western Conference but has hit a full-blown crisis. The home team has suffered five losses in their last six matches and is rapidly losing positions in the standings. St. Louis, on the other hand, is gradually picking up pace. However, the battle for a playoff spot for the club is just beginning.

📊 Head-to-Head

The opponents have already met once in the current regular season. In mid-October, the "Knights" narrowly emerged victorious in Nevada (4:3). The home team managed to tip the scales in their favor only in the third period. The biggest contribution to his team's success was made by defenseman Shea Theodore, who managed to score a goal and provide an assist. The Canadian is still in great form and has been scoring points for four consecutive games.

⚫ Vegas

Bruce Cassidy's team unexpectedly slipped into a full-blown playing crisis at the most inopportune moment of the season. One of the recognized leaders of the Western Conference almost stopped scoring points in the second decade of January, managing to defeat only an even more crisis-stricken Minnesota (4:1). For a long time, the "Knights" were fighting for leadership in the West with Winnipeg and even briefly achieved this goal. However, now the Vegas players have completely different tasks to solve. Past successes still keep the club in third place, but the home team's margin of safety is gone.

🔵 St. Louis

The "Bluesmen" continue their fight for a spot in the playoff zone and have recently made some progress in this direction. In their previous five games, Jim Montgomery's team secured three victories and managed to get close to the coveted eighth spot in the West. The gap is now just three points, and by defeating a direct competitor like Calgary twice (2:1, 4:1), the visitors have significantly eased their task. However, the team critically lacks stability over the course of the season. The St. Louis players cannot achieve more than two or three consecutive wins.

📌 Projected Lineups

Vegas: Samsonov - Pietrangelo, Hanifin - Barbashev, Eichel, Stone

St. Louis: Binnington - Fowler, Parayko - Neighbours, Thomas, Buchnevich

🥅 Goalkeepers

Vegas goaltender Ilya Samsonov has recently been alternating matches with his partner Adin Hill. However, neither of the goalkeepers can fully help the team break their losing streak and emerge from the crisis. The Russian failed to maintain even an 82% save percentage in two consecutive games and became one of the main culprits for the team's defeats.

St. Louis goaltender Jordan Binnington continues to alternate successful games with outright failures. For instance, after an outstanding game against Calgary (96.4%), the Canadian couldn't handle the pressure from Utah's hockey players (87.9%). Largely due to this instability at the last line, the club from Missouri continues to fight for a spot in the playoff zone instead of being securely in it.

📝 Editorial Prediction

The home team is in an obvious playing crisis that is just beginning to fully develop. This is one of those rare cases where betting against the "Knights" seems completely justified. Right now, Nevada's hockey players are struggling offensively, and their defense also leaves much to be desired. Yes, the "Bluesmen" aren't impressive with their offensive efficiency and aren't quite successfully fighting for a playoff spot, but they should be able to compete on equal terms with the current Vegas team. The visitors are quite capable of maintaining a minimal lead. Our key bet is St. Louis to win with a handicap (+1.5).